Pennsylvania Among Nation’s Leaders In Most Bridges That Could Collapse

An Associated Press study shows that Pennsylvania ranks near the top of states with not only the most structurally-deficient bridges, but also states with the most “fracture critical” bridges, or spans that could collapse if one vital part were to fail.

Their study shows that Pennsylvania has about 1,350 such “fracture critical” bridges, including several located on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Not all are aging bridges. There are nearly 7,800 such bridges across the country.

PennDOT statistics already show that Pennsylvania still has more than 4,000 structurally-deficient bridges that have been targeted for rehabilitation because at least one major component has been declared in “poor” condition or worse. State officials, pointing out that much work has been done on the bridges on that list, stress that the number was above 6,000 when a major study about three years ago prompted work on the problem spans.

The AP study shows that Pennsylvania has 577 bridges that have been designated as both structurally-deficient and “fracture critical.”